IGAD Hopes Ethiopia to Underpin its Leading Role in Stabilizing East Africa

Addis Ababa ENA July 26/2019 The Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) hopes Ethiopia to swell its prominent role in the coming years in the effort to stabilize the Eastern Africa region.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Abdullahi Busuri, Information and Documentation Manager at IGAD said Ethiopia has been led many peace processes and last year was also very much in steering of peace processes from South Sudan, Sudan among others.

“Ethiopia has been involved in the normalization of relations with Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, and Kenya and so on. So, Ethiopia has been very effective in bringing the region together,” Abdullahi underlined.

The country has also been successful in initiating several continental programs aimed at fostering regional integration, he stated.

Abdullahi stressed that Ethiopia has been playing a very remarkable role in further promoting peace and development in the region, adding that “The foundation is already here in Ethiopia`s involvement in the region. I think the influence of Ethiopia will be doubled in the coming months and years as a leader in our region”.

Referring to the solid foundation of the country`s role in the region, Abdullahi said Ethiopia will not concentrate only on its internal issues but would also continue to make efforts in strengthening the collaboration between IGAD member states.

Having witnessed the recent positive progress in the region, he said “I believe that the region will be prosperous and more integrated in the future”.

Spokesperson at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nebiat Getachew said for his part that as per the foreign policy of Ethiopia, the peace and stability in the Horn of Africa is one of its priority areas. The country has been playing the forefront role in the region in this respect.

Recently, the overall situation of the Horn region is becoming promising. Ethio-Eritrea peace deal, South Sudanese smooth peace process, the recent talks among Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti jointly or separately could be taken as show cases, according to the spokesperson.

“Ethiopia is committed to continue its comprehensive effort in realizing sustainable stability and integration of the region,” he affirmed.

Stressing the benefit of joining hands for realizing the common interests and targets in the region, he said the country will continue to play its leading role in smoothing the relations among and within respective countries.

The recent joint and unilateral meetings of leaders of the region with PM Abiy Ahmed resulted in a pervasive optimism in the Horn turning the region from area of chronic instability into a bulwark of peace and cooperation.